dananananaykroyd and THE mae shi at captains rest in glasgow

It’s worth mentioning, as this was illustrated fairly starkly at the gig tonight, with queues down the street for Dananananaykroyd; whilst other venues in the festival sat empty, or under-attended, such as the Cold War Kids earlier in the day. The Captain’s Rest can be an intimate venue, but things had gone past intimate and headed into sweaty, over-crowded and not impossible to see.

Despite this, I knew very little about Dananananaykroyd before the gig; steering clear of them due to the hype that they are surrounded by, especially in their home city. Not only that, but the ‘pop’ tag that gets applied liberally to them whenever described. However, they screamed and bounced their way through a set which was fun, and so friendly that it ended with one of their singers hugging everyone in the crowd whilst the band finished up, introducing the Mae Shi as the “greatest band in the world.”

By this point, however, I couldn’t face much more of the venue. The only thing keeping me there was the amount that I wanted to see the Mae Shi. As I made my way to the front to take photos, I was berated by some woman for bumping into her with my camera. I would have had sympathy, if I hadn’t spent the previous two hours having elbows, leather coats, drinks, and sweaty arms pushed into me by obnoxious punters. All of this added up to being less than expectant of enjoying the noise-rock masters.

With three of the six current members of Mae Shi on stage, wearing Abe Vigoda t-shirts they bounced their way through what seemed to be a ridiculously short set; the schedule for the day coming so close to the curfew that since earlier bands had run on, time got squeezed out. Between electronic beeps from the Mac, bizarre noises from obscure instruments, and yelps and shrieks from the other two band members, they apologised for the tracks which they deemed not be rock and roll enough “this isn’t a rock song; you’ll probably hate it.” – Definitely not the case; with the crowd singing along in ecstasy to every word of tracks like “Run to Your Grave”, and the moshpit started as the band found themselves in amongst them. It felt strangely more like a religious experience than a gig; especially when the whole venue was told to sit down with the Mae Shi in the middle and sing along. And as the drums were being packed up and cables wrapped, the singing continued, with “I Get (Almost) Everything I want” spontaneously erupting from those assembled, with the Mae Shi eventually joining in in bemusement.

I found myself vowing to my friend never to bother going to gigs like this again, but by the time the Mae Shi had taken to the stage and finished by high fiving us all (and complimenting my glasses – yas.), I think I might manage to bring myself to.

Thanks to Keith for the help with the review. Photos from the gig shot by Stephen McLeod are here.

myspace: The Mae Shi